"Gentlemen, may martial fortune flourish." Jie Huang Chao said lightly, "No need to see me off, Giant Deer."

"Wish a safe departure to the Heaven-Soaring General!"

Led by Realm Giant Deer, all the messengers bowed to respectfully send Jie Huang Chao off, their eyes filled with respect and fervor, wishing they could bow down to the ground.

Sun Chaozong’s body trembled as he tightly grasped Mouse Monk’s arm, so excited that he seemed about to kneel: "Monk, did you see that? Did you see it! The tattoo of the Heaven-Soaring General, damn it’s cool! Old Sun wants to get one too!"

Mouse Monk was shaken back and forth by him: "Do you know what the move just now was?"

"Huh? How could I know? Old Sun is just a lousy Second-Turn, and coming in this time was thanks to your favor." Sun Chaozong patted Mouse Monk’s shoulder: "Damn, this experience will be a tale I boast about for a lifetime, when I’m old I can tell my grandchildren that Old Sun has seen the big world!"

"Then you must remember to tell your grandchildren that the move just now by the Heaven-Soaring General is called Instant Hell Transformation."

Mouse Monk and Sun Chaozong turned their heads and saw it was Realm Giant Deer, immediately bowing, "World Grand Commander!"

"We’re all military town warriors, so don’t be so formal." Realm Giant Deer said with a smile, "How was it this time? Quite a haul, right?"

"Hehehe, all thanks to the Grand Commander’s support." Sun Chaozong’s grin almost split his cheeks, "As long as I get to see the Heaven-Soaring General displaying divine techniques, I’d gladly live a long life even if I only advance to Third-Turn."

"Get lost, you rascal." Realm Giant Deer gave Sun Chaozong a little kick on the behind, Sun Chaozong, being perceptive, immediately excused himself, leaving the space to Realm Giant Deer and Mouse Monk. At that moment, others either left or dove into the lake searching for treasure chests—yes, in this secret realm, treasure chests are all underwater.

"Mouse... I’ll call you Monk like Sun did." Realm Giant Deer said, "What are your thoughts?"

"The power of Foundation Establishment is unfathomable to gods and ghosts." Mouse Monk said, "In Lake Heart Island Secret Realm, the Second-Turn can barely move."

"It’s good that you understand." Realm Giant Deer nodded gratifiedly. His reason for bringing Mouse Monk in this time was to show him that the military town wasn’t targeting him. It was quite a headache; not just Second-Turn Messengers, even Third-Turn Messengers were unwilling to tackle Third-Turn Secret Realms—it’s too taxing and dangerous. Only Mouse Monk, with Second-Turn strength, would apply to join teams tackling Third-Turn Secret Realms.

"But have you ever thought, Monk, why is it that Foundation Establishment Messengers can effortlessly handle Third-Turn Secret Realms, yet rarely do so?"

Mouse Monk replied, "Simply because Foundation Establishment doesn’t need Third-Turn resources, and for them, it’s not worth the effort."

Realm Giant Deer’s look at Mouse Monk shifted noticeably, "Well said. It seems it’s not just talent in Martial Dao; Monk, your intelligence far exceeds that of ordinary people... it’s a pity you are the confidant of Duke Xuanwen; otherwise, the Jie Family would certainly recruit you as Honored Guest Elder."

He paused before continuing, "Everything in the Third-Turn Secret Realm is meaningless to Foundation Establishment. Even Spiritual Jade is the same. Once messengers reach the Fourth-Turn Foundation Establishment, their Spiritual Power transforms and refines into Spiritual Essence. Spiritual Jade loses all value to Foundation Establishment; only True Spiritual Jade from the Fourth-Turn Secret Realm can supplement their Spiritual Essence."

Yan Qing blinked, thinking something was amiss.

After reaching Foundation Establishment, Spiritual Power transforms into Spiritual Essence. Although it requires ten thousand Spiritual Jade to supplement one unit of Spiritual Essence, and supplementation isn’t as quick as True Jade, it’s still a way to restore mana—the lavishness of Foundation Establishment here, totally unneeded for Spiritual Jade?

But quickly Yan Qing understood: game characters recover Spiritual Essence just by pressing the key, and in non-combat states, the consumption rate of Spiritual Jade is very fast. However, Foundation Establishment in this world needs to practically absorb one thousand units of hundred jade!

If absorbing one hundred jade per second, restoring one unit of Spiritual Essence would take 16 minutes. Given the Fourth-Turn Foundation Establishment averages 100 units of Spiritual Essence, it would take several hours to fully replenish their Spiritual Essence!

With efficiency this low, it’s only natural for them to fully abandon Spiritual Jade for continuation.

Realm Giant Deer continued, "Also, because Third-Turn Secret Realms hold no significance to Foundation Establishment, spending Spiritual Essence to conquer them is totally counterproductive. The rewards from the Lake Heart Island Secret Realm convert to about three million Spiritual Jade in value; even resources from more abundant Great Secret Realms max out around seven million, yet the Spiritual Essence expended by the Heaven-Soaring General, calculated by Spiritual Jade, far exceeds ten million."

Yan Qing felt it strange; you could calculate that way, but in the game, it’s really not like this.

It’s quite simple: Fourth-Turn Secret Realms only produce True Spiritual Jade, the Seventh-Turn only produces Immortal Spiritual Jade. The currency among low-level, mid-level, and high-level players is independent; the amount of players at each level dictates the amount of currency produced.

Therefore, although high-level player currency has high denominations, exchanging it downward often results in having value but no market—because low-level players simply can’t provide enough low-level currency to exchange for high-level currency.

Transactions between players of different levels usually involve barter, which is one reason the Treasure Pavilion taxes are so exorbitant. In "Messengers," Spiritual Jade currency is more for mana use, at most anchoring the prices within the same tier, not measuring other tier values.

Yet it’s different in this world; the number of low-level messengers far surpasses high-level ones, and having cultivated for so many years, Spiritual Jade inflation has reached a nearly unbelievable degree—they really can fork out tens of millions of Spiritual Jade!

These thoughts flashed through Yan Qing’s mind, as Mouse Monk asked, "Given this, why does the Heaven-Soaring General squander millions striking through Third-Turn Secret Realms?"

"For fortune."

"Fortune?" Mouse Monk and Yan Qing were both puzzled.

"Different divine techniques require different fortunes to nurture." Realm Giant Deer looked at the Golden Chrysanthemum on Mouse Monk’s shoulder, "Yet most Foundation Establishment can only gather fortune themselves; in such a vast Central Plains, as far as I know only two Foundation Establishments can delegate mortals to assist, the Heaven-Soaring General being one of them."

"During your tenure bearing [Golden Armor], the more battles you experience, the more fortune you gather for the Grand General."

Yan Qing understood immediately. No wonder Realm Giant Deer specifically introduced so many Foundation Establishment secrets; it turns out he was worried that Mouse Monk wouldn’t grasp the importance of this matter.

Mouse Monk: "Does the Grand Commander hope for this monk to conquer the Secret Realm more frequently during this period?"

Realm Giant Deer nodded: "In these seven days, I hope you can lead other Second-Turn Messengers who also bear the [Golden Armor] to continuously conquer ’Stone Sinking Creek.’ With your capabilities and the protection of [Golden Armor], doing it once a day is just leisure; twice a day is no problem, but if you can manage three or even four times a day, the Jie Family will provide a generous reward."

Although he doesn’t know what this ’fortune’ thing is, there’s no reason to refuse such a good deal. Originally, Yan Qing was the type of player who hated repetitive tasks the most, but in this world, the gaming environment is too harsh; tackling a Secret Realm has a limit on the number of times. It’s rare to encounter such a great ’brick-moving’ opportunity, Yan Qing feels his liver finally has a chance to be useful.

"This monk shall comply."

"Then it’s up to the monk."

Realm Giant Deer also breathed a sigh of relief. Although there are many Second-Turn Messengers in Xuanwu Lake Military Town, Mouse Monks who are both elite and not afraid of hardship are very few. Messengers are humans too, and engaging in continuous high-intensity battles is an unbearable strain for them. It requires a captain with great innate perseverance and courage like Mouse Monk to bear most of the pressure, so it’s possible to enter the Secret Realm multiple times a day.

"If you need anything, just ask. I will provide whatever I can."

"Grand Commander, exactly what is fortune?"

Realm Giant Deer laughed: "Fortune is profoundly mysterious. As a Third-Turn myself, even with ancestral teachings it’s just observing flowers in the mist; I only know the world records Foundation Establishment’s every action. Appropriate actions will increase fortune, and inappropriate ones will diminish it. When fortune reaches a certain level, one will receive heaven’s favor, or even be able to avoid calamities. Beyond this, I’m clueless."

Yan Qing scratched his head. In the game, many mechanisms match the description, such as milestones and bad reputation systems, but what does this ’avoiding calamities’ mean? The closest match in his memory is big data recommendations, like videos only showing black silk, white silk maid and nurse types. Does [Messenger] have a similar mechanism?

Moreover, it can entrust mortals with tasks... Yan Qing rubbed his chin, unable to figure it out, and curiously asked another question: "Grand Commander, you just mentioned there are only two Foundation Establishment in Central Plains who can delegate tasks to mortals, besides Heaven-Soaring General, who is the other Foundation Establishment?"

Realm Giant Deer hesitated for a moment before saying: "The other one is merely ancestral speculation, without solid evidence. It’s just that Foundation Establishment Messengers always reside in Secret Realms, rarely involving in mortal matters beyond fortune, thus conversely, if a Foundation Establishment resides in the mortal world for long, it’s mostly for fortune."

Yan Qing blinked and immediately a name surfaced in his mind.

...

...

Qi Kingdom, Nocturnal Heaven City, Imperial Palace.

"Marquis of Lecheng County arrives~"

As Ying Rushi stepped into the great hall, she surprisingly felt it was a bit crowded.

The hall was filled with ministers. As Ying Rushi glanced around, all were key figures and pillars of the Qi Kingdom, responsible for pleasure and currying favor. Not a single sycophant was in sight. She couldn’t help but feel excited—could it be that Your Majesty finally woke up, eager to embrace good ministers and distance from the malign ones?

"Rushi." Ying Le lazily leaned against the throne, waved cheerfully when Ying Rushi entered, and patted his snow-white thigh beneath the hem of his skirt: "Come over, come sit with me."

Ying Rushi was shocked and hurriedly declined: "How could I be so disrespectful?"

But Ying Le insisted, so Ying Rushi had no choice but to step onto the Sumeru Throne and stand beside her. Sitting on his lap was a million times a no. Ying Le was a bit disappointed but did not push further. Instead, pointing below, he asked: "Rushi, look at them, who are they all?"

Ying Rushi carefully inspected the imperial court’s high officials, bowed and said: "They are the Qi Kingdom’s wise ministers and capable officials, transmitting Your Majesty’s decrees and majesty across mountains and rivers."

"Really?" Ying Le smiled: "I cannot see into their hearts; I dare not be sure if they are loyal and virtuous."

"Your Majesty’s majesty prevails the world, none from afar would dare defy, none abroad would dare resist, how could there be traitors in court?"

"I only know that those not of my kin must have differing minds; a dam of a thousand miles collapses by an ant hole." 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

Ying Rushi froze, once again examining the ministers in court, with an incredible thought rising in her mind, coldness slithered like a snake along her spine. Despite sunlight streaming in from all directions, in her eyes the palace was eerily dark.

"Grand Tutor Yuan."

"I am here." Grand Tutor Yuan Shizhou stepped forward to reply. Although he was over forty, his appearance did not dwindle in handsomeness, with an elegant demeanor, he was the epitome of a civil servant.

"History records the arrival of two unified dynasties in Central Plains; the divine-commanding Great Zhou a thousand years ago and the splendid military Great Profound millennium prior. The era of Great Zhou is shrouded in myths, hard to discern truth from fiction, but Great Profound is close at hand; genealogy of your noble lineage can trace back to Great Profound times."

"Great Profound underwent two periods of turmoil, fortunately revived by Guangwu Zhao Lie, who continued for over two thousand years of spring and autumn. If not for disintegration, it might have remained the Central Plains orthodox till now."

Ying Le lazily leaned against the throne, squinted at the ministers below:

"Grand Tutor Yuan, I’ve heard you’re well-versed in history and deeply studied classics. Tell me, how did Guangwu Zhao Lie manage the revival?"